Sorry!!!!

Hey guys, I'm sorry, my pc decided to stop working this week so I couldn't post anything. Right now I'm posting from university. It will be half an week till I can get it back. Hold on, ok?

Grammar Study 04

Hello everyone,

Grammar time again. There some basic demonstratives which we didn't talk about. We will go briefly throught them and start the real deal.

There is the adjective demonstrative words こんな、そんな、あんな、どんな which mean "this/that/that(over there)/which kind of". By now you should have a grasp of it already. And the one about location ここ、そこ、あそこ、どこ which refer to place (here, there, over there and where) and these ones have a politer form which is respectvely こちら、そちら、あちら、どちら。

Given that we finish the most common demonstratives we can now move to the relative and reflexive pronoums. And once we finish those we can start our study on the wide range of japanese particles. This will take a while because it is one of my main difficulties.

The reflexive is easy. The word　自分 じぶん does all the work. It is used for any human and any other warm-blooded animal. In normal speach it will never be used for fish, reptiles, insects or objects, tough you see it being used for those in stories. Usually, 自分　is followed by で (condition) or の (possessive)
例えば：
自分でしなければならいんです。
I have to do it by myself.

自分の宿題は自分でしなさいよ。
ぶんのしゅくだいはじぶんでしなさいよ。
Do your homework by yourself!

大抵自分で勉強します。
たいていじぶんでべんきょうします。
I usually study by myself.

It has a slightly different meaning then 一人で ひとりで  which means "alone".

For the relative pronouns it will get a little tricky. There is no equivalent to "who, whom, whose" (when they are relative pronoums) in Nihongo. An example is worth thousands lines of explanation.
例えば：

The man who was running.
There is no equivalent to "who" in this phrase.

Imagine instead it was:
The running man.
走る男
はしるおとこ。

The girl who arrived yesterday.
The yesterday arrived girl.
昨日ついた女の子。
きのうついたおんなのこ。

Got it? It is a well seen characteristic of the Nihongo, there is no relative pronoum because the relative clauses precede rather than follow the words. This discussion waas taken manly from Baron's Grammar of Japanese which is a nice book which i used to study.

That's all folks. See you tomorrow!
Gustavo

Character Exercise 04

Hello guys,

I'm kinda of busy looking for information about opportunities for studying in Japan. So let's go straight to the point today. These are my phrases built with yesterday's words:

飛ぶ　　　とぶ       to fly
鳥が池の上を飛んでいる
とりがいけのうえをとんでいる
The birds are flying above the pond.

塩　　　　しお       salt
敵に塩を送る。
てきにしおをおくる。
To send salt to the enemy. (proverb)

砂糖　　　さとう     sugar
彼女はいつも塩と砂糖を混同している。
かのじょはいつもしおとさとうをこんどうしている。
She is always confusing salt with sugar.

暗い　　　くらい     dark/gloomy
突然、空を暗くなった。
とつぜん、そらをくらくなった。
Suddenly it became dark.

夏　　　　なつ       summer
ヘロヘロになる前に、夏バテ対策をしっかり行い元気に夏乗り切りましょう。
へろへろになるまえに、なつバテたいさくをしっかりおこないげんきなつをのりきりましょう。
Before we get beaten by the heat fatigue, let's take proceed the precautions tightly so we can have a healthy summer.

隣　　　　となり     next to
私たちは隣同士です。
わたしたちはとなりどうしです。
We are next-door neighbors.

飲む　　　のむ       to drink
冷たいものを飲みたくてしょうがない。
つめたいものをのみたくてしょうがない。
I'm dying for a cold drink. (This construction seems so different.)

川　　　　かわ       river
彼女は広い川を泳いで渡った。
かのじょはひろいかわをおよいでわたった。
She swam across the wide river.

言う　　　いう       to say
「おはよう」と彼女は微笑みながら言って。
「おはよう」とかのじょはほほえみながらいって。
"Good morning", said she while smiling.

困る　　　こまる     to worry/bother about
返事に困っている?
へんじにこまっている？
Can't think of an answer?

頼む　　　たのむ     to request
彼女は私にドアを開けるように頼んだ。
かのじょはわたしにドアをあけるようにたのんだ。
She asked me to open the door. (Another weird construction for me)

教室　　　きょうしつ classroom
彼はいつ教室から出ていったのですか?
かれはいつきょうしつからでていったのですか？
When did he leave the classroom?

取る　　　とる       to pick up
来週二日間の休みを取るつもりです。
らいしゅうにかかんのやすみをとるつもりです。
I plan to take a period of two days off next week.

登る　　　のぼる     to climb
私たちは遂にあの山に登ることに成功した。
わたしたちはついにあのやまにのぼることにせいこうした。
We finally succeeded in climbing that mountain.

宿題　　　しゅくだい homework
夕食前に宿題をするのつもりです。
ゆうしょくまえにしゅくだいをするのつもりです。
I plan to do my homework before supper.

時計　　　とけい     watch
本当に時計を直してもらわなければならないんです。
ほんとうにとけいをなおしてもらわなければならないんです。
I really must ask someone to fix my watch.

つまらない boring
そんつまらないことで心配するな。
そんあつまらないことでしんぱいするな。
Don't worry about such boring/insignificant things.

友達　　　ともだち   friend
明日友達と会う予定だ。
あしたともだちとあうよていだ。
Tomorrow I'm going to see a friend.

交番　　　こうばん   police box (huh?)
交番の周りに人がたくさん見た。
こうばんのまわりにひとがたsくさんみた。
I saw a lot of people around the police box.

事象　　　じしょう   dictionary
明日授業に辞書を持ってくる必要がありますか？
あしたじゅぎょうにじしょをもってくるひつようがありますか？
Is there a need for us o bring the dictionaries tomorrow?

来る　　　くる       to come
彼女とここに来るのは何回目になるのたろう。
かのじょとここにくるのはなんかいめになるのだろう。
I wonder how many times I came here with her.

Maybe I should make fewer words on Mondays, it is getting complicated for me heheheh!

Baibai,
Gustavo

PS: Sorry, I'm really in a hurry!

Character study 04

もう月曜日ですね。週末に楽しく過ごしたか？

さあ、即座に勉強しましょうか?　私はかなり眠いですが、今日の言葉は：

飛ぶ　　　とぶ       to fly
塩　　　　しお       salt
砂糖　　　さとう     sugar
暗い　　　くらい     dark/gloomy
夏　　　　なつ       summer
隣　　　　となり     next to
飲む　　　のむ       to drink
川　　　　かわ       river
言う　　　いう       to say
困る　　　こまる     to worry/bother about
頼む　　　たのむ     to request
教室　　　きょうしつ classroom
取る　　　とる       to pick up
登る　　　のぼる     to climb
宿題　　　しゅくだい homework
時計　　　とけい     watch
つまらない boring
友達　　　ともだち   friend
交番　　　こうばん   police box (huh?)
事象　　　じしょう   dictionary
来る　　　くる       to come

Well, we know what to do now, right? Lets build phrases with those words and then tomorrow we take a look at them and see whats right or what is wrong.

Once again I recommend you download and use Anki, and visit Tangorin and WWWJDIC as these tools can help you a LOT and they are totally FREE. :p

じゃ、またね。疲れたなあ。 My bed waits me! =D
Gustavo

Finally it is rainning!!

Hello guys,

Man, finally we got some rain here. Nowadays the heat seems unbearable. But anyway, this week I confirmed that JLPT4 and JLPT3 do not guarantee you can speak with people on the streets. Well, maybe JLPT3 yes, but the yonkyu certainly not. I had this chance to talk to a Japanese and his Australian friend and that became very clear.

Recently I've been growing the ideia of studying over Japan. Right now I'm planning my masteers course on Statistics. I don't think I'll be able to go through the entire course there because I don't want to be that far away from girlfriend. I'll move to another city here in Brazil and she is not going. But being on the other half of the globe with such a timezone difference is on a completaly different level. And also Brazil is really good regarding the the major that I want to master.

But there are these Japanese Government Scholarships for doctorade which are really attractive. Depending on the plans I might try the doctorade, with my gf going for masters, or I can try the research scholarship while she tries the undergraduate program. They seem really receptive, at least on the phonecall.

This week I found out this youtube series of videos on japanese cuisine which are really interesting. Take a look here. After that I rushed and tried to prepare some 牛丼. It tasted good indeed, but the taste should be much different had I used the japanese ingredients like mirin or katsuobushi (bonito flakes).

So guys? How are you all doing? This week we got three more RSS subscribers! I hope things can grow exponentially so we get 100 subscribers quickly =D. Remeber to take a look at twitter for some nice information during the week.

See you monday!
Gustavo

Conversation 02

Hi guys, ready for more?

Everyone knows that I love Wikipedia. For me it is the second most useful website on the whole Internet. The guys at Wikipedia do an excelent work, remember to donate if you can!

The conversation today is taken from Japanese Phrase Wikibook

It is a conversation between A：松田さん（まつださん）Mr. Matsuda and B:銀行窓口（ぎんこうまどぐち）Bank clerck.

銀行での会話：
ぎんこうでのかいわ：
Conversation at the bank:
A:
おはようございます。アメリカドルを日本円に交換したいのですが。
おはようございます。アメリカドルをにほんえんにこうかんしたいのですが。
Good morning. I want to exchange american dollars for japanese yens.

B:
はい、かしこまりました。おいくら交換なさいますか？
はい、かしこまりました。おいくらかんこうなさいますか？
Ok, certainly sir. How much would you like to exchange?

A:
アメリカドルで百五十ドルあります。今日の交換レートはいくらですか？
アメイカドルでひゃくごじゅうどるあります。きょうのこうかんはいくらですか？
One hundred and fifty dollars. What's the exchange rate for today?

B:
一ドル九十八円です。
いちどるきゅうじゅうはちえんです。
98 yens per dollar.

Hmmm, I just realized that's one of those dialoges we find in textbooks for travelers... and that is not quite the objective here. But I ran out of time to find a new one today =/. すみませんね。I should have done different.

Remember you can use WWWJDIC and Tangorin to check for words. They are both excelent dictionaries!

Baibai,
Gustavo

Verbs study 03

Today is March 18 and we will study verbs once again, ready?

Last time we learned how to obtain the polite ~ます for from the plain form (or dictionary form if you prefer). Today we are going to study the negative form for both the polite and the plain form.

01) Negative form

a)五段動詞 - Plain form
Easy, just add ~あない to the stem.
例えば：
Plain form       Negative
行く　いく　　　　　　　行かない
読む　よむ　　　　　　　読まない

b)一段動詞　- Plain form
Easy also, just add ~ない to the stem.
例えば：
Plain form       Negative
食べる　たべう　　　　食べない
考える　かんがえる　　考えない

c)Polite form　(for both classes)
Easiest. Change the ~ます for ~ません.
例えば：
Polite form      Negarive
行きます いきます　　　行ません
食べます　たべます　　食べません
読みます　よみます　　読みません
考えます　かんがえます　考えません

One note here: For the 五段動詞　ending in ~au, ~iu, or ~ou, remember to add the omitted ~w before adding the ~あない to the stem.
例えば：
Plain form       Negative
しまう　             しまわない
買う　かう　　　　　　買わない
言う　いう　　　　　　言わない
思う　おもう　　　　　思わない

Enough for today because we need to understand it very well. Let's look some for examples in texts in the Internet, ok? We are bit by bit studying everything we need about verbs. Next will be the past tense construction.

じゃあ、またね。
Gustavo

Grammar Study 03

みんあさんどうですか?

前のレッスンを復習しましょうか？ In the previous lesson we studied about the demonstratives made with ko~, so~, a~, do~ preffixes. We studied the ~re and ~no suffixes which are used to make the word a demonstrative pronoun (as これ） or a demonstrative adjective (as この). Today we will take a quickier look at four other demonstrative words.

Always remember: こ is for things near the speaker, そ for things near the listener, あ　for things far from both and ど to make questions (much the same as "which").

01)こう、そう、ああ、どう　ー　these are adverbs and mean "in this/that manner".
例えば：
こう
ブラジルは昔からこうなの。
ブラジルはむかしからこうなの。
Brazil has been like that since old times.

そう
私がここの生活に慣れるのに時間がかかりそうです。
わたしがここのせいかつになれるのにじかんがかかりそうです。
It seems (that-そう) it will take me a while to get used to daily life here. (This one was a little trick, but as you read some texts you will understand how そう is used).

ああ
彼はああやればよかったのに。
He should have done it that way.

どう - The simplest one in this batch *heheh*
具合はどうなんですか？
What about the health? (How is it?)

That will be it for today. These ones above are really important. I took these examples mainlly from tangorin.com so I highly encourage you to go there and look for some more interesting examples. Tangorin is a great website.

Remember, your feedback is important. We are approaching the 50 unique IPs per day, so let me know what do you think about the website.

また明日ね!
Gustavo.

Character exercise 03

Following our plans today we will try to write down phrases with the words from yesterday's studies. Soon enough we will be creating texts inveolving these words. I only need a little bit more free time for that.

So let's see, today's phrases for me are:

誕生日　たんじょうび　Birthday
彼女の誕生日パーティーに招かれました。
彼女の誕生日パーティーに招かれました。
I was invited for her birthday party.
(I'm not sure if the past tense of 招く is correct here, ok?)

勤める　つとめる To work (in a company)
またブローカーで勤めるつもりです。
またブローカーでつとめるつもりです。
I plan to work on the broker again. (Actually I need to! お金！！！ hehehe)

買う　かう To buy
私はあなたと同じ車を買いました。
わたしはあなたとおなじくるまをかいました。
I bought the same car as you.

売る　うる To sell
私はカメラを安い売りました。
わたしはカメラをやすいうりました。
I sold the camera cheaply.

仕事　しごと Work/occupation
旅先で仕事の話を止めってくれませんか?
たびさきでしごとのはなしをやめってくれませんか？
We are traveling, would you stop talking about work?

学校　がっこう School
学校遅れるな！
がっこうにおくれるな！
Don't be late for school!

名前　なまえ Name
彼の名前ははっきり知っています。
かれのなまえははっきりしっています。

食堂　しょくどう Canteen/restaurant/cafeteria
クラスのみんなが学生食堂の食べ物を気に入っているというわえではない。
クラスのみんなががくせいしょくどうのたべものをきにいっているというわけではない。
I don't mean that everyone in the class don't like the canteen's food.

咲く　さく To bloom (flowers)
庭の花は春に咲く。
にわのはなははるにさく。
The flowers in the garden bloom in the spring.

背広　せびろ　Business suit in Japan
あなたのネクタイは背広によく調和している。
あなたのネクタイはせびろによくちょうわしている。
Your tie goes well with your suit.

天気　てんき Weather
私は冷たい天気も気にならない。
わたしはつめたいてんきもきにならない。
I don't mind a cold weather. (Well, I don't like cold... but this 40°C-ish weather here is killing me!!!)

生まれる　うまれる To be born
彼女は赤ちゃんが生まれる。
かのじょはあかちゃんがうまれる。
She is going to have a baby.

意味　いみ Meaning
文の前後関係から単語の意味を知っている。
ぶんのぜんごかんけいからたんごのいみをしっている。
I get(got?) the meaning of the word from the context.

片仮名　かたかな Katakana
片仮名を片仮名でカタカナと書きます。
かたかなをかたかなでカタカナとかきます。
Katakana is written カタカナ in katakana (*heheh*)

入れる　いれる To put in
氷をたくさん入れてください。
こおりをたくさんいれてください。
Please put a lot of ice in.

涼しい　すずしい Cool (temperature)
木陰は涼しかった。
こかげはすずしかった。
It was cool in the shade of the tree.

食べ物　たべもの Food
私はピザのような食べ物が好き。
わたしはピザのようなたべものがすきです。

静か　しずか Quiet
彼女は入った後ドアを静かに閉めた。
かのじょははいったあとどあをしずかにしめた。
She quietly closed the door behind her.

Gosh, for some reason today's list was really hard for me. I better take a bath and sleep. See you tomorrow!

Gustavo

Character study 03

It is Monday again and here we are, ready for another week of Nihongo studies!
I wonder, if you pass the JPLT4 does it mean that you can speak to natives on a sactifatory level? If anyone there has the JPLT4 could you answer please?

Well, let's get busy right way. Remember I highly suggest that you take more vocabulary per week, maybe three times more than we do here. Here we have other worries, like grammar, and I can't be typing vocabulary everyday (I wish I could tough).

This week words are:

誕生日　たんじょうび　Birthday
勤める　つとめる To work (in a company)
買う　かう To buy
売る　うる To sell
仕事　しごと Work/occupation
学校　がっこう School
名前　なまえ Name
食堂　しょくどう Canteen/restaurant/cafeteria
咲く　さく To bloom (flowers)
背広　せびろ　Business suit in Japan
天気　てんき Weather
生まれる　うまれる To be born
意味　いみ Meaning
片仮名　かたかな Katakana
入れる　いれる To put in
涼しい　すずしい Cool (temperature)
食べ物　たべもの Food
静か　しずか Quiet

Remember to pratice more than once a day writting these words so you can get used to kanji, ok? I usually read it once and write them again 4-5 times during the day. I'm preparing some pdf files with words so you can pratice on a daily basis. I don't when they will be done tough.

またあしたね！
Gustavo

Saturday finally!

Hey guys, how are you doing?

I've been busy like hell lately, erm, wait, why in English? This is a blog about Nihongo, right? そうです、最近忙しいんですんが、カキコしますむずかしくなった。そして日本語で書きますまだかなりむずかしいですけど。さあ、あまり思い詰めないのほうがいいです。たぶんもっと時間だけは要りますね。そう言えば、要るものがたくさんあります*heheh*例えば：お金＝）と車と旅行！

今週日本語の映画を見てみった、あまりよく分からない。来週にはよんでみます。

Man, it takes me a lot of time just to write these few lines. I have to go thinking and thinking, oops, sorry! 日本語で書きますたくさん時間がかかります。 Ok, enough for today, I want to become proficienty really soon but I know it takes a while.

I don't know what should I try to read this week, any ideas? By the way, I highly recommend you take Anki practice on a daily basis. It is a very efficient way to improve our vocabulary. At the time you have a somewhat nice vocabulary you got to try to read magazines or news in Nihongo, this way you can understand the language structure and get used to the construction more oftenly used. I do not recommend manga or animes since it isn't really the language spoken on the streets and the entonation of the words differ a lot. Or so I've been told. What I do recommend is the free audion lessons at JapanesePod101, I usually listen to them when I'm working out my abs. The lessons are like 20 minutes, just enough for 600 crunches *heheh*. Ok, I'm sorry, it is just that I'm not fat anymore and I feel much better =D. *six pack, anyone?*

I'm preparing something related to writing exercises for the next week, hope you will like it.

Well, I better write this week's posts now, I still have a thesis to finish and an electric guitar to play!

Thank you once again for visiting my blog, thank you for studying with me and thank you for you feedback! That's it, keep pushing play and we will eventually be fluent in an year or less.

Reading Study 01

Time for some text! Yap, I agree there is no way better than reading texts to understand the structure of a language.

I remember looking for children stories and fairy tales written in Nihongo but i quickly became frustrated at how I couldn't make sense of the words and how difficult it seemed. Then I recently found this website from Mr. Tom Ray which proved to be really useful. There are some translated stories in his website.

Let's take a look at a small portion of a tale called ももたろう or The Peach Boy.

ふたりはこの子にももたろうと
いう名まえをつけ、それは
だいじにそだてました。
ももたろうはまんまを一ぱい
たべたら一ぱいだけ、二はいたべたら
二はいだけずんずん大きくなって、
たいへんな 力もちになりました。
なにをおしえてもすぐおぼえ、
いえのしごとから山のしごとまで
てつだってくれました。
「こんな子どもはめったに
いるもんじゃない。」
おじいさんもおばあさんもいよいよ
ももたろうをかわいがりました。

Here is the translation. Most of it is from Mr. Ray's website but I changed a little thing or two. SO if something is wrong it is probably my fault, ok?

ふたり は この 子（こ） に ももたろう と いう 名（な）まえ を つけ、
Together they gave the name Momotarou to this child,

それは だいじ に そだてました。
and brought him up with so much care.

ももたろう は まんま を 一（いっ）ぱい たべたら 一ぱい だけ、
If Momotarou ate one cup of rice he grew one cup,

二（に）はい たべたら 二はい だけ
if he ate two cups he grew two cups and

ずんずん 大（おお）きく なって、
quickly became large, and

たいへんな 力（ちから）もち に なりました。
came to be very powerful.

なに を おしえて も すぐ おぼえ、
Whatever they teach him he learns quickly, and

いえ の しごと から 山 の しごと まで てつだって くれました。
from house work to mountain work he helped them.

「こんな 子ども は めったに いる もん じゃない。」
"It is rare that there is a child like this."

おじいさん も おばあさん も いよいよ ももたろう を かわいがりました。
The old man and the old woman loved Momotarou more and more.

Mr. Ray also made this little glosary:

だいじ = a serious matter
そだてる、そだてます、そだてて、育てる = bring up
まんま = rice
ずんずん = rapidly, fast, by leaps and bounds
おしえる、おしえます、おしえて、教える = teach
おぼえる、おぼえます、おぼえて、覚える = remember
てつだう、てつだいます、てつだって、手伝う = help
くれる = somebody do for somebody
めったに ~ ない = rare, seldom
いよいよ = more and more
かわいがる、かわいがります、かわいがって、可愛がる = love

I don't plan to post more of his page here, because now that you know it you can just go there and learn, right? Also, I'll try to post more dialogues than stories since it is a more practical approach and represents the spoken language better. The phrasal structure and mainly the verbs conjugation are different from everyday's language. But it is fun and useful to read those stories once in a while, do you agree?

That's it for today, I'm going out now.
See your later,
Gustavo

Verbs Study 02

Hello everyone, how are you today?

Since I'm becoming more and more busy lately I decided to write these study notes in advance, writing them all on Sunday and then reviewing with you during the week. But I'll publish one per day as I was doing. Is it ok?

Today we will continue our verbs studies, learning how to find the verbs stems and how to . The notes here are taken from some different grammars I found at my university.

01)五段動詞 - the consonant stem verbs.
To find the stem drop the "u" in the end.
例えば：
  Verbs     Stems
急ぐ　いそぐ　isog-　
書く　かく    kak-
死ぬ　しぬ    shin-
読む　よむ    yom-

Two notes here: if the verb ends in -au, -iu, or -ou it is classified as 五段動詞 and the stem is formed by dropping the "u". That's because we consider a missing "w" as if it ends in "wu".
例えば：
  Verbs    Stems
買う　かう   ka-
言う　いう   i-
思う　おもう omo-
Second note is that you need to remeber that some verbs ending in -eru and -iru are 五段動詞. Also, the verbo "kiru" when it means "to cut" (切る） is a 五段動詞, this form has the stress on "ki". But when "kiru" means "to wear" (着る）then it is an 一段動詞. This form has the stress on "ru".

02)一段動詞 - the vowel stem verbs
To find the stem drop the final -ru.
例えば：
   Verbs        Stems
上げる　あげる     age-
始める　はじめる   hajime-
食べる　たべる     tabe-
考える　かんがえる kangae-

Then we shall move to the infinitive form as it is the basis for some other verb forms.

To form the infinitive of 五段動詞 you add -i to the stem.
例えば：
    Verbs          Stems　Infinitive
急ぐ　いそぐ　 isog-　  isogi-
書く　かく       kak-      kaki-
死ぬ　しぬ       shin-     shini-
読む　よむ       yom-     yomi-

The infinitive of 一段動詞 is the stem itself. Pretty easy huh? Makes you love 一段動詞 more than　五段動詞.

The infinitive form of くる is ki- and for する is shi-.

Then finally we can form the polite forms of verbs adding -masu to the infinitive!

    Verbs              Stems　     Infinitive    Polite form
急ぐ　  いそぐ　     isog-　       isogi-           急ぎます
書く　  かく            kak-          kaki-　　　  書きます
死ぬ　  しぬ            shin-         shini-　　　  死にます
読む　  よむ            yom-         yomi-　　　 読みます
上げる　あげる        age-          age-　　　  上げます
始める　はじめる     hajime-     hajime-　 　始めます
食べる　たべる        tabe-         tabe-　　 　食べます
考える　かんがえる kangae-     kangae-　  考えます

Thats it for today, I'm gonna take a bath now, this city is absurdly hot these days!

Baibai

Grammar Study 02

Hello guys and girls and Google bot,

Today is grammar study day, and we will try to put an end to some confusion about demonstrative words. 始めましょうか?

This study is taken mostly from Minna no Nihongo chapter 2, also from Wikipedia, and some notes I wrote in the past months.

01) これ、それ、あれ, どれ
These four words are used to "refer" to things. これ is used for things near the speaker, それ is used for things near the listener and あれ is used for things far from both. Sounds simple but I get confused once in a while. どれ is used for unidentified objects among choices, much in the same way as "which" in english.

例えば：
これはイレーザーです。
This is an eraser. (The eraser is near me, the speaker)

それは傘です。
それはかさです。
That is an umbrella. (The umbrella is near you, the listener)

あれは財布です。
あれはさいふです。
That is a wallet. (The wallet is far from both of us)

どれがあなたの車なの？
どれがなたのくるまなの？
Which one is your car? (Which of those cars is yours?)

02)この、その、あの, どの
Do not confound this four with the previous four. These four are used to "modify, give a condition" for the noun.
例えば：
このイレーザーは私のです。
このイレーザーはわたしです。
This eraser is mine. (The eraser is given a property, it is mine.)

その傘は白いです。
そのかさはしろいです。
That umbrella is white. (The umbrella now is described as white)

あの財布はだれのですか？
あのさいふはだれのですか？
Whose is this wallet? (We want to know a characteristic of the wallet)

どの車があなたのですか?
どのくるまがあなたのですか？ (There is a subtle difference from どれ, here we gave a characteristic for the car beforehand)

Next grammar lesson we will finish the so called ko-so-a-do system of demonstratives and you shall understand why it is called so *hehe*. By the way, NEVER use その、この、どの、あの for people, and avoid using for animals  just for caution, because it is considered to be very rude, ok?

That's it, see you tomorrow, and remember that I'd love to see comments once in a while, ok?

またあしたね
Gustavo

Character Studies 04

みんあさん！おはよがざいます！

今日もっと日本語を勉強します。今週とても忙しいですから、仕事場でから書きます。大丈夫です、上司は物分かりのいい人だ。そして、彼はなかまです。

Having problems with the line above? You know what to do, just leave a comment asking if you need help, ok?

Yesterday we studied a new set of words. Today we are going to create phrases with those words. Here are mine. Please let me know yours!!

飲み物　のみもの (a) drink
何か冷たい飲み物はいかがですか？
なにかつめたいのみものはいかがですか？
Would you like to drink something cold?

暗い　くらい dark;gloomy
部屋が暗いです。
へやがくらいです。
The room is dark.

頭　あたま head
頭が痛い。
あたまがいたい。
My head hurts.

喫茶店　きっさてん a cafe
じゃあ、あとで喫茶店で会いましょうか?
じゃあ、あとできっさてんであいましょうか？
Well, lets meet at the cafe later?

隣　となり next to
病院は郵便局の隣にある。
びょういんはゆうびんきょくのとなりにある。
There is a hospital next to the post office.

誕生日　たんじょうび birthday
来年の私の誕生日は日曜日に当たる。
らいねんのわたしのたんじょうびはにちようびにあたる。
Next year my birthday will be on a Sunday.

登る　のぼる to climb
彼らは先週富士山に登った。
かれらはせんしゅうふじさんにのぼった。
Last week they climbed Mt. Fuji.

所　ところ a place
本当に暑い所なんだ！
ほんとうにあついところなんだ！
Really, it is hot in here! (Seriously folks, my city is REALLY hot nowadays.)

なる to become
遅くなったごめんなさい。
おそくなったごめんなさい。
Sorry that I was late.

たいてい usually
私はたいてい歩いて大学へ行く。
わたしはたいていあるいてだいがくへいく。
I usually go to university on foot.

公園　こうえん a park
代々木公園へ行きましょうか?
よよぎこうえんへいきましょうか？
Shall we go to Yoyogi park?

売る　うる to sell
卵はたいてい1ダース単位で売られる。
たまごはたいてい１ダースでうられる。
Eggs are usually sold in dozens.

違う　ちがう to differ
毎日勉強する時間帯が違います。
まいにちべんきょうするじかんたいがちがいます。
Everyday I work different hours.

That's it guys. I'm sorry to be in such a hurry, but i gotta go.

またね！
Gustavo

Character Study 03

Hello everyone, how are you doing?

My weekend was really great, what about yours? Anyway, we are back to our week schedule. To start with we are gonna practice some words and kanji, is it ok? I'll keep the same week structure if everyone agree.

These are the words I studied today in the morning. I'd like to inform that these word may repeat in some lessons so we can keep them in our heads. That's also because I'm sing Anki, which I introduced before, and it uses the spaced repetition learning system (aka SRS). So, if you see a word that appeared in previous lessons that is not a mistake, ok?

飲み物　のみもの (a) drink
暗い　くらい dark;gloomy
頭　あたま head
喫茶店　きっさてん a cafe
隣　となり next to
誕生日　たんじょうび birthday
登る　のぼる to climb
所　ところ a place
なる to become  (usually appears as "something+に＋なります" meaning "to become something)
たいてい usually
公園　こうえん a park
売る　うる to sell
違う　ちがう to differ

Try to study those twice today, ok? I usually take those in a scrap of paper and then take a look once in a while.

That's it for today. Keep reviewing our studies. Keep track of your own studies.

See you tomorrow!
Baibai

Woo, it's Saturday!

Geez, what a week! Lots of things happening but somehow I was able to study and post everyday. I'm not complaining, since all the things that make me busy were chosen by me. My day starts at 6:00am when I cook my breakfast, usually oats (おいしそうね), and then I have one hour of Forex market studies, because I need to have money *hehehe*, then one hour of electric guitar because I need to have fun, two hours of exercise (see P90X on Google!) because we all need exercises, and then I study the reaming hours for my master's program admission test, which will happen in December and which I need to pass.

Things will get a little tougher since my scholarship couldn't be renewed, so I will go back to my old job as a stock broker, which pays nice and allows me to study, but I'll have to exercise late at night. But don't worry, I'll be here :p

It may seen illogical that I'm maintaining this blog while I have so little free time but it really helps. Thanks to the blog I can keep record of what I do and can stay focused on the long run.

First week of this blog was really cool, we got some people reviewing it and giving me tips and correcting some mistakes. Also, we got our first comment! My special thanks to SyncroPC for being the first to comment on this blog, you just won a... a... well... you won something... try looking at something under 5 dollars at dealextreme.com and I'll send it to you *heheh*

I'd like to encourage people reading this blog to comment and tell us about their own studies, how did the like our studies and what they would like to see on this blog. Since I sat on the other side of your screen, typing this blog, I began to feel how the feedback you leave is important. It is the fuel we need to keep writing everyday. And that ain't an easy task. So please, let's interact more. I know there aren't many readers right now, maybe something like 30 different people. But let's share, ok?

That's it guys, I wish you a wonderful week, study hard, tomorrow I won't post, but Monday I'm here.

また来週ね
Gustavo

Conversation Study 01

みんなさんお元気ですか?　Am I being useful? I hope so. *hehe*

Today, and probably every Friday, we are going to view some conversation. I will start slow and then I hope I can get to write posts as big as the lessons in "Breaking into Japanese literature", which is a really nice book (not for absolute beginners tough).

じゃあ、始めましょうか?

会話　ー　かいわ　ー　Conversation

A:今日ケキを作ります。ケキが好きですか?
きょうケキをつくります。ケキがすきですか？
Today I will prepare some cake. Do you like cake?

B:ええ、ケキがとても好きです！チョコレートは最高のケキですよ。
ええ、ケキがとてもすきです。チョコレートは最高ですよ。
Yes, I like cake very much.Chocolate (cake) is the best for sure.

A:ええと。。。ざんねんですね、ミルクがありません。
Let me see... how bad, there is no milk.

B:そうですが、近くにスーパーがありませんか？
そうですが、ちかくにスーパーがありませんか？
Oh is that it? Isn't there a supermarktet near here?

A:ああ、スーパーがあります。
ああ、スーパーがあります。
ah! there is a supermarket.

B:この時間にもう開けていますか?
この時間にももう開けていますか？
Is it already opened this hour?

A:ええ、ぜひ。
yes, for sure.

Vocabulary:
作ります　ー　つくります　ー　to prepare
ケキ　ー cake
チョコレート　ー　chocolate
最高　ー　さいこう　ー the best
近く　ー　ちかく　ー near
そうです　ー　that's so; it looks to me; I am of impression
ミルク ー　milk
スーパー　ー supermarket
時間　ー　じかん　ー time, hour
開ける　ー　あける　ー to open

You will hear 「そうです」 quite a lot in Nihongo conversations as it is one of the Nihongo's trademarks.

Well, it is midnight here. I had a reaaallly hard day so I'm very very tired. As for our practice let's review the text, translate and understand words that you may have missed initialy and then we try to create a text in the same model but using the words you know, ok?

Seee you tomorrow
Gustavo  (exceptionlly tired today)

Verbs Study 01

If there is something that always get me in trouble that is the Japanese verb conjugation. But my guess is that the Nihongo verbs aren't that hard to understand. I only need to study those on a regular basis. Mind if we try to cover most of aspects of Nihongo verbs in a series of posts on Thursdays?
First of all, we must learn that verbs in Nihongo are presented in two forms:
01) The dictionary form, which is a little colloquial.
例えば (たとえば）Example:
分かる　（わかる）　ー to understand
待つ　（まつ）　ー to wait
02) The ~ます form, which is considered a little more polite.
例えば:
分かります　(わかります)　ー　to understand
待ちます　(まちます) ー to wait
in a near post we shall study how to find the ~ます form from the dictionary form.
Nihongo verbs can be classified in three classes:
a) 五段動詞　（ごだんどうし）　ー　the consonant stem class. Usually these verbs end in "~U".
例えば:
飲む　（のむ）　ー to drink
話す　（はなす）　ー to speak
書く　（かく）　ー to write
b) 一段動詞　（いちだんどうし） ー the vowel stem class. They end in "~iru" and "~eru".
例えば:
信じる　（しんじる）　ー to believe
掛ける　（かける）　ー to take (time,money)
At japanese.about.com we can see a list of exceptions of the above class. For example, the verbs:
入る　（はいる）　ー to enter
走る　（はしる）　ー to run
いる ー to need
belong to the "~U" class.
c)Irregular verbs. Only two! So much easier than my Portugese language.
来る　（くる）　ー to come
する　ー to do

That's it people. Next Thursday we will discuss more about verbs. Ok? Please don't get bored, I'm going to pick up the speed soon but I feel I must provide some basic information first, or at least where to get it :p.

読めてくれてありがとう！また明日ね！
Gustavo

Grammar Study 01

みんあさんおはよ！

Here we are again, another day and another session of the Nihongo. Let's get busy right way, ok?

Hmmm, I don't really feel like starting with the very basic particles like は、　が and　の, but there is a chance that some of us here are absolute beginners. Also, I want to somewhat follow my notes from when I started taking this seriously. Won't take a while, right?

Particles
Nihongo has a lot of particles. To make it simple, these particles are used to denote special functions or relations regarding other elements of the sentence. Such functions include designating the main topic, making the talk more polite, designating the object of the action and so on and relations of inclusion, possession, location, direction and so on. Knowing these particles is a fundamental part of learning the Nihongo. There is a lot, but keep your mind set and we will be able to learn as many as we need.

Let's discuss five really basic ones today.

01)は - it is used to designate the main topic of the conversation. When used as particle it is pronounced "wa".
例えば：
日本語は面白いですね。
にほんはおもしろいですね。
Japanese is interesting, isn't it?

Note that right after Nihongo, there is "wa", indicating that the main topic of the conversation is the Nihongo.

02)が -  it is used to mark the secondary topic of the conversation. Wikipedia has an interesting way of distinguishing between both が and　は.
ジョンは学生です。
ジョンはがくせいです。
Jon is a student. (Jon is the main topic)

ジョンが学生です。
ジョンががくせいです。
(Of all the people we are talking about) It is Jon who is a student.

Our friend Jon is only someone in the crowd in the second sentence.

There is a lot of discussion to be made about は and　が, but we won't engage in this discussion now.

03)の - indicates possession or grouping.
日本語の本。
にほんごのほん
A Japanese book. (the belong belongs to the Nihongo kind of books)

木村さんの車。
きむらさんのくるま。
Mr. Kimura's car. (the car belongs to Mr. Kimura)

04)も - indicates that the topic has something similar to the previous topic. It is somewhat equivalent to "too" and "also".
ジョンは学生です。ケイコも学生です。
ジョンはがくせいです。ケイコもがくせいです。
Jon is a student. Keiko is a student also.

05)か - use to imply doubt or question. Add か to the end of sentence to make it a question. And almost always you will pronounce it with a rising tone.
駅の前で公園がありますか？
えきのまえでこうえんがありますか？
Is there a park in front of the station?

That's it guys. I need to rush now with my other studies or I will be really in trouble. Thank you for your visit and I see you tomorrow.

Gustavo.

Character Study 02

Ok my dear partner, here is what we are going to do on our Tuesdays. We are going to create some sentences using the words and characters that we learned yesterday.

If you have some knowledge in the Nihongo then you may try to create the sentences yourself. But if you need more help try visiting Jim Breen's JDIC, which is an excellent online dictionary. There you may find example phrases for some words. You will need, however, to understand the other words in the examples and you can use the dictionary for that. If you are an absolute begginer and still needs to learn the basic sentence structure and the use of basic particles as は and が, I recommend this and this  links first, both from TheJapanesePage.com. Be patient, struggle a little and you will succeed. I believe in you.

Feel free to send me your phrases and to correct my phrases when there are mistakes. Send me an email or leave a comment. Ok?

Here are my frases:

01)風　かぜ wind
今日はやさしい風ですね。
きょうはやさしいかぜですね
Today the wind is very gentle, isn't it?

池　いけ a pond
この公園で綺麗な池があります。
このこうえんできれいないけがいます。
In this park there is a beautiful pond.

意味　いみ meaning
この言葉は英語でどう意味ですか?
このことばはえいごでどういういみですか？
What does this word means in english?

撮る　とる to take a picture, photo
写真を撮りませんか?
しゃしんをとりませんか？
Don't you want to take a picture?

靴　くつ shoes
今週くつ二足を買いました。
こおんしゅうくつにそくをかいました。
This week I bought two pairs of shoes.

勤める　つとめる to work at
私は学校に勤めています。
わたしはがっこうにつとめています。
I work at a school.

歯　は tooth
目には目を、歯には歯を。
めにはめを、はにははを。
It is an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth

妹　いもうと　younger sister
私の妹十二歳です。
わたしのいもうとじゅうにさいです。
My younger sister is 12 years old.

教える　おしえる to teach/ to inform/ to instruct
日本語を教えてくださいね!
にほんごをおしえてくださいね！
Please teach me Japanese!

台所　だいどころ kitchen
時々、台所は危ないところです。
ときどき、だいどころはあぶないところです。
Sometimes, the kitchen is a dangerous place.

行く　いく to go
今、どこへ行くのか?
いま、どこへいくのか？
Now, where to go?

学校　がっこう school
毎日学校へいくます。
まいにちがっこうへいきます。
(I) go to school everyday.

たくさん (too) much/many
することがたくさんあります。
There are many things to do.

家内　かない my wife
家内はワシントンにいます。
かないはワシントンにいます。
My wife is at Washington.

大変　たいへん serious, grave, dreadful, terrible
大変ですね.
たいへんですね。
Terrible, isn't it?

一番　いちばん first
富士山日本で一番高い山です。
ふじさんにほんでいちばんたかいやまです。
Mt Fuji is the highest mountain in Japan.

大きい　おおきい big, enormous
鯨は大きい動物ですね。
くじらはおおきいどうぶつですね。
The whale is an enormous animal, isn't it?

お兄さん　おにいさん elder brother
お兄さんは銀行で働いています。
おにいさんはぎんこうではたらいています。
My elder brother works in a bank.

高い　たかい high, expensive, tall
部屋代はとても高いですと思います。
へやだいはとてもたかいですとおもいます。
I think the rent for the room is too high.

お手洗い　おてあらい restroom
お手洗いはどこですか?
おてあらいはどこですか？
Where is the restroom?

痛い　いたい painful (to the body)
頭が痛い.
あたまがいたい。
(My) head hurts.

建物　たてもの a building
その建物は高すぎます。
そのたてものは高すぎます。
That building is too high.

静か　しずか quiet
海が静かになった。
うみがしずかになった。
The sea became quiet.

That's it everybody. I'm really tired today, so I'm going to bed now. It's 00:10 am over here! See you later!

Baibai.

Character Study 01

For the first post on characters I would like to present you the Anki. It is one of those flashcards programs. Anki has become quite popular and there is an extensive database of flashcards decks which are available for free.

I highly recommend you to install Anki, because we are going to use it a lot here. Its official website is http://ichi2.net/anki/ and all you need to know is there. But if you have any doubt feel free to ask me, ok?

Today we will train some words and characters. For that I will use one of Anki's JLPT4 decks. For those who still do not know what is the JLPT please read this.

風　かぜ wind
池　いけ a pond
意味　いみ meaning
撮る　とる to take a picture, photo
靴　くつ shoes
勤める　つとめる to work at
歯　は tooth
妹　いもうと　younger sister
教える　おしえる to teach/ to inform/ to instruct
台所　だいどころ kitchen
行く　いく to go
学校　がっこう school
たくさん (too) much/many
家内　かない my wife
大変　たいへん serious, grave, dreadful, terrible
一番　いちばん first
大きい　おおきい big, enormous
お兄さん　おにいさん elder brother
高い　たかい high, expensive, tall
お手洗い　おてあらい restroom
痛い　いたい painful (to the body)
建物　たてもの a building
静か　しずか quiet

I am assuming here that you are familiar with hiragana. If you are not, please google "hiragana table" and learn every character, ok?

Anki works on our memory using the Spaced Repetition Learning System (SRS) method. If you want more information about this try the Wikipedia. This method will show us the characters/words which we did not memorize strongly more often than those we have already fixed in our head. By doing so it stimulates the right connections in your brain.

I studied this list in the morning and I will study it once again before I go to sleep. Try to write the above words with you pencil. The muscular memory will help you to learn the above words faster than if you only read it.

That's it for today, study that set twice today, tomorrow we try to construct phrases using these characters. Ok?

またね、お友達さん
Gustavo

What I've learned so far

I started learning the Nihongo quite a while ago. If I can remember clearly it was in 2005. I would be fluent by now but I got involved in so many projects that I did not have the time to study. Actually I did have the time, but I was thought that if I can't study a subject several hours per day I would not learn it. How wrong I was!

For the last six months I have taken the subject seriously. If you are a beginner I highly suggest you create an account at www.livemocha.com. Livemocha is free and is excellent website. There you will have lessons, basically flash cards, and your exercises will be checked by other users who are native or fluent in the Nihongo. It is a nice place to learn and make nice friends. Exercises include speech and composition. The Livemocha website worked really nice for me. I still did not finish the whole course. What I like the most is that I can make question in the spoken exercises and people will kindly teach me. Oh, and you will have the chance to help someone who is learning your first language.

Also, I listened to the Pimsleur audio course. It is a collection of audio lessons, 90 total, including the most basic and practical Nihongo expressions. However, Pimsleur is not free. But do not get sad, there are excellent audio lessons at NHK's website http://www.nhk.or.jp/lesson/ and they are available in different languages. As we talk I will present you (and hopefully vice-versa) some other audio learning material. We will look for free stuff whenever possible.

I studied some Kanji already and some grammar. There is this famous collection Minna no Nihongo which helped a lot. Due to copyright issues I cannot publish several lines from book's lessons, so what you will find here are my own personal notes and I will create the examples on my own. This way we can keep free information for you.

Our ultimate goals are the JLPT. We are aiming for that, so let's keep our eyes on our target and do our bet, ok? We start tomorrow with character study!

またあとでね、
Gustavo.

The very first post!

Hello everybody! I welcome you to my blog. My name is Gustavo and I'm writing from Brazil.

From here on we will learn the Japanese language, hereby called Nihongo (日本語). We both know this is not an easy task. So, before you start asking yourself "How on Earth are we going to do that?", let me tell you: 

We are going to use the power of discipline!

I do not mean we both will spend four hours a day practicing, but we will sure persist. We will have the guts to study everyday, be it fifteen minutes or one whole hour or more if you got the time. And the reason why I am using "we" is because I am still learning the Nihongo too.

You stick with me. I stick with you. We stick together until we get ourselves fluent in the Nihongo. Do you hear more about the plan? Here it is:

•  We will study characters once or twice per week;
• There will be grammar studies also once per week;
• Every week we will read one or two little dialogs;
• Once per week we will have a stress free conversation about Japan related things;
• On Sundays we rest, ok? We need it.

 After all is done we will look back and say: "Hey, that was quite a way until we got here!" And then the others will be able to read and learn from our recorded efforts.

I will count on you and you can count on me. Your feedback is really appreciated, without it I am truly lost. Please share your opinions and doubts with me as I will share mine with you. Use the comments or email contact whenever you need it, ok?

Good luck to us all!